Tag: vaccine

Hello and happy Monday, readers. I hope you enjoyed your weekend. Another week, another dire report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on the historic measles outbreak winding through America. As of May 10, 839 measles cases have been confirmedacross 23 states, a hike of 75 cases in the past week alone, according to the agency. There are now more than ten times as many confirmed measles cases in 2019 as there were in 2010, when the highly infectious disease had nearly been wiped out in the United States. We’ve…

It is a high-stakes gamble with thousands of lives on the line. Yet twice a year, every year, the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) bets on the flu — which virus types are likely to dominate in the coming season. On this basis, a vaccine is prepared months in advance. “We cannot say for sure which virus will be circulating,” said Wenqing Zhang, head of the WHO’s global influenza programme. “What we’re doing is based on the best possible surveillance information and analysis, and basically to bet, or to project,…

A decision not to vaccinate boys against a cancer-causing sexually transmitted infection has attracted fierce criticism. Reported cases of human papilloma virus (HPV) – thought to cause about 80% of cervical cancers – have fallen sharply since girls were given the vaccine. But the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) found little evidence to justify treating boys too. Critics said vaccinating boys could help reduce the risk still further. Doctor’s call to ‘equally protect’ boys with HPV vaccine Girls’ cancer jab could help also boys, say teachers HPV vaccinations…

A technology that could eventually see every childhood vaccine delivered in a single injection has been developed by US researchers. Their one-shot solution stores the vaccine in microscopic capsules that release the initial dose and then boosters at specific times. The approach has been shown to work in mouse studies, described in the journal Science. The researchers say the technology could help patients around the world. Childhood immunisations come with tears and screams. And there are a lot of them. Diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, Hib and hepatitis B at…

In a significant find, a team of researchers has reported for the first time elicitation of powerful, HIV-blocking antibodies in cows in a matter of weeks — a process that usually takes years in humans — paving the way for developing a broadly effective AIDS vaccine in the near future. According to the study, published in the prestigious journal Nature, the unexpected discovery in cows is providing clues for important questions at a moment when new energy has infused HIV vaccine research. “One approach to a preventive HIV vaccine involves…

The Zika virus has got a lot of people worried. Many efforts are being made by researchers tominimise the transmission and effects of the virus. Pregnant women need to be especially careful as their healths and habits affect the child. Now, researchers have found that immunising women with a Zika vaccine during pregnancy can protect the transmission of virus from mother to her baby in utero. Researchers from the University of Texas’s medical branch at Galveston in the US found that the Zika vaccine can protect unborn child against infection and birth…

The world’s first vaccine against malaria will be introduced in three countries – Ghana, Kenya and Malawi – starting in 2018. The RTS,S vaccine trains the immune system to attack the malaria parasite, which is spread by mosquito bites. The World Health Organization (WHO) said the jab had the potential to save tens of thousands of lives. But it is not yet clear if it will be feasible to use in the poorest parts of the world. The vaccine needs to be given four times – once a month for…

The global fight against malaria has finally seen a momentous turn. In its first, three African countries will pilot the first ever vaccine for malaria. “Ghana, Kenya along with Malawi will take part in a WHO-coordinated pilot implementation programme that will make the world’s first malaria vaccine available in selected areas, beginning in 2018,” WHO Regional Office for Africa, website. Plasmodium falciparum is the deadliest form of malaria and to tackle the same in children an injectable vaccine, RTS,S, has been developed. The vaccine will be assessed in the programme…

A potent malaria vaccine with virtually no side-effects has cleared clinical trials. The new “highly protective” malaria vaccine was successful in humans and can pave the way for treatment of other parasitic diseases. Scientists from the US genetically engineered the plasmodium parasite that causes the disease, after being passed on from mosquitos, to remove three genes that lead to infection. Although they can’t multiply , they live in the liver and stimulate the body’s defences to repel a real infection. Plasmodium parasites first infect the liver and then blood, leading…

An experimental vaccine is safe and effectively stimulates the immune system leading to regression of early-stage breast cancer, show results of a clinical trial. The researchers created the vaccine from immune cells called dendritic cells that are harvested from each individual patient to create a personalised vaccine. The immune cell vaccine targets the HER2 protein on breast cancer cells. The HER2 protein is overexpressed in 20-25 per cent of all breast cancer tumors and is associated with aggressive disease and poor prognosis. Researchers had previously shown that immune cells are…